Vacuum cleaners of the above specified kind have become common on the market during recent years. They possess an advantage in relation to conventional vacuum cleaners by the fact that the entire vacuum cleaner is assembled into one single unit instead of a separate vacuum unit, which during work will be dragged over the floor, and a separate hose and tube provided with a nozzle device in the end. The design of a vacuum cleaner according to the preamble is more compact which will facilitate the cleaning work.
Many of these vacuum cleaners are provided with a vacuum unit, which is detachable from the stick formed support body and provided with an integrated nozzle in a forward end, such that it can be used as a handheld, lightweight vacuum cleaner. This makes the vacuum cleaner more versatile in relation to conventional vacuum cleaners. I.a. such a vacuum cleaner can be used for vacuum-cleaning of for instance floors, wherein the work may be performed comfortably in a standing, upright position for the person or operator performing the work. However, it can also be used as a handheld, lightweight vacuum cleaner for cleaning of spots difficult to access, table tops, window boards and the like, by detaching the vacuum unit from the support body. For this reason the integrated nozzle in the forward end of the vacuum unit integrated nozzle in the forward end of the vacuum unit is connectable to the support body to set the vacuum unit in fluid communication with the nozzle device in the lower end of the support body. Most of these vacuum cleaners are provided with a chargeable battery in the vacuum unit, to allow vacuum operation without the need for a mains supply cable, above all when it is used as a lightweight, handheld vacuum cleaner, but preferably also when it is used as a stick formed vacuum cleaner.
To facilitate working with this kind of vacuum cleaner, the nozzle device in the lower end of the support body is preferably provided with wheels, castors or the like on the bottom side, which will bear and roll against the floor during cleaning. Such wheels will to a large extent facilitate working with the vacuum cleaner since the entire weight is carried by the support body, which is maneuvered back and forth by the operator, and consequently the wheels will make it considerably easier to move the vacuum cleaner.
However, most of these vacuum cleaners can not stand upright by themselves. In most cases the vacuum cleaner is delivered with a stand for storing, and possibly charging of batteries, when it is not in use. However, this stand can not be carried along during work. Accordingly, due to the comparatively large weight and the movable joint between the support body and the nozzle device, it has appeared that the vacuum cleaner is difficult to temporarily put aside, e.g. for taking a brake or to allow the operator to have the hands free for doing something else. When the nozzle device in addition is provided with wheels, this difficulty to temporarily put aside the vacuum cleaner is increased as a consequence of the high movability due to the wheels in the nozzle device. Consequently, the vacuum cleaner can not stand by itself and if the vacuum cleaner is leaned against for example a table or a wall, it tends to slip away and fall to the floor, either by the wheels in the nozzle device rolling straight forward or by the stick tipping sideways due to rotation in the joint between the support body and the nozzle device. This is a problem since on the one hand, the vacuum cleaner can get damaged or the vacuum cleaner may knock down furnishings and the like. Accordingly, the user is often forced to lay the vacuum cleaner flat on the floor when it is desirable to temporarily do something else. This makes the work considerably more strenuous and time-consuming.